Harvestella is the latest take on the marriage of the farming simulator and fantasy RPG genres. Developed by Live Wire and published by Square Enix, it's set in a world afflicted by the Season of Death, which, coincidentally, is what I called the beginning of 2022 when every week hailed the launch of a guides-worthy game. It challenges you to manage uncovering the world’s secrets alongside the hardest task of all - keeping a plant alive.
You begin Harvestella as an amnesiac who’s found near Lethe Village after being outside during the Season of Death and, somehow, surviving. Unsure at what to do with you and most likely wanting to keep the medical miracle close to hand, the Mayor and local doctor give you a nearby farm. Peace, however, is short lived as you’re soon cohabiting with the time travelling Aria and start investigating the Sealights - crystal-like structures which affect the seasons.
While I've currently only reached Chapter Four, Harvestella’s plot has already pulled me in with its sense of growing unease. Aria being an intelligent protagonist, whose status as a time traveller gives her a legitimate reason to hold back information, helps build this ominous tone. She’s keenly aware there’s something fundamentally wrong with this world and unafraid to voice this opinion, which ensures the characters are driving the plot rather than the opposite.